REVIEW: WOWee One Slim Portable Speakers

The WOWee One Slim promises to deliver high-quality sound despite its slim form factor. However, compared to the other cheaper speakers, it is pretty expensive and has high expectations to meet. But does it meet these, or will it fail to deliver what it promises?

Terence Huynh reviews, after the jump.

Score:

7.5 / 10

The Good:

When placed on the right material, sound is excellent; slim form factor makes this portable.

The Bad:

Gel Audio means that sound is distorted because of the material; a lot of experimenting to find good material

Bottom Line:

A good pocket speaker that delivers excellent sound for the price.

While headphones are nice and all, I sometimes want to listen to my music out loud in open air rather than it blasting to my ears – and that could be a way to maybe save my very own hearing. Most portable speakers tend to be crap because of the cheap parts, however with a price tag around the $100 mark, this device had high expectations to deliver. And it did – depending on where you placed it.

Design and Ease of Use

The WOWee One Slim is, as the name suggests, a much slimmer version of the WOWee One. It is around the size of an iPhone (but not as thin), and its design is simplistic: coming in only black or white and both having chrome on the edge. The body is made out of plastic but it does not feel flimsy and is not cheap. There is also gel at the bottom – which is used to power the audio (more at the bottom). It is sticky and is prone to get dust. However, a simple wet wipe will clean it.

It is pretty easy to use. There is no on or off switch – the device simply turns on or off depending if there is a device attached to the WOWee One Slim. It only features two ports – a 3.5mm audio jack and a microUSB port which is also used for the recharging the battery.

Performance

The device features something called Gel Audio Technology, and it produces high-quality sound if the device is placed on some material – such as glass, plastic or wood. This gel – found on the base of the device – essentially makes whatever surface you use as a subwoofer. The bass levels are nice and the volume is really good and loud, though it won’t replace a traditional iPod dock speaker or your entertainment system.

However, again depending on the surface, your music can sound good or heavily distorted. I found that the best material to use is wood and glass, and on a flat surface – but even that, there is some distortion but it is not as obvious.

The maximum battery life for the speaker is ten hours (though, that decreases it as you increase the volume), which is pretty good for those wanting to use it while they are studying. The device does indicate the battery life by a changing light on the body.

Conclusion

Despite the novelty factor, it is a great sounding speaker and is perfect for those who want to travel light and listen to music without the headphones and not use the crappy speakers on your iPod touch or any smartphone speaker. It isn’t cheap, but the sound definitely is worth the cost and its simplicity makes this a perfect speaker.